Karsten G. Trillhaase, of Beach Haven, N.J., and Oakland Park, Fla., passed away surrounded by his family on December 30, 2021, at 75 years of age. He fought a protracted illness with Parkinson’s disease for over 15 years with courage and strength. He was a Sandy Hook resident for nearly 30 years.

A brilliant, articulate, and passionate man, he devoted his professional life at first to building large-scale civil engineering development projects in Saudi Arabia, and later made a 30-year career of ensuring the safety of large industrial facilities in the insurance industry with Factory Mutual Systems/FM Global.

Born in Germany to a family that served as financial advisors to Kaiser Wilhelm II, the family was forced to relocate from Berlin to southern Bavaria in the 1920s. In ashes of post-World War II Germany, Karsten was raised by a single mother with two half-brothers under sparse conditions, working on farms and securing odd jobs to help the family survive. Karsten grew up with a void in his heart for the father he never knew, writing many letters throughout his childhood that went unanswered. It would take over 40 years and the re-unification of Germany to provide the fate of his estranged father, and the identity of a previously unknown half-brother residing in East Berlin.

After graduating from the gymnasium in Hohenschwangau, Karsten joined the German Navy to get an education and to see the world. During his time in the Navy, Karsten served on a Minesweeping ship (Minensuchgeschwader SM-Boot Deneb), and was a crew member of a Grumman UF-2 Albatross search and rescue plane. Karsten finished his naval career as a Chief Petty Officer in the Kommando Spezialkräfte Marine, Kampfschwimmer Deployment Group 3402. As a Kampschwimmer (frogman), Karsten completed Underwater Demolition Teams (UDT) School and became Airborne qualified through exchange programs sponsored by the United States Military in the 1960s.

In the early 1970s, after retiring from the Navy, and graduating from the University of Munich with a Master’s degree in Engineering, Karsten joined Wormald Engineering Services. Assigned to projects in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, Karsten managed the fire protection projects at the Dammam and Jeddah Seaports and the Jeddah International Airport. Under the leadership of King Khalid, Crown Prince Fahad and Prince Sultan, Karsten was responsible for the construction of the Royal Airport Terminal in Riyadh. In addition to construction management, Karsten was tasked by the royal family with personally overseeing the art portfolio for the Royal Terminal, which at the time was the largest collection of contemporary Islamic art in the world.

While visiting the United States on a business trip in 1978, Karsten met the love of his life Debra Burger at the Palisadium in Palisade Park, N.J. A light of a cigarette sparked a whirlwind courtship that led to marriage and a wonderful life together in Saudi Arabia, the United States, and Germany. Family vacations were epic — from the beaches of Southeast Asia, exploring the Petra in the deserts of Jordan, skiing in the Alps, stays on Sebago Lake, family parties in Beach Haven, and back to his beloved Schwangau in Allgäu.

Karsten enjoyed numerous hobbies including: learning about foreign cultures and skillfully building Kibri models by hand. He liked to work outdoors moving rocks and clearing land — preferably with an axe or chain saw in hand and even better with a German Shorthaired Pointer nearby. He cherished memories of playing amateur ice hockey for Platzerl in Füssen. Karsten also appreciated fine cigars (especially Montecristo No. 2) and an ice cold Hefeweizen with a lemon slice in a proper Weizenbierglas.

Karsten is survived by his wife, Debra; two sons: Brendan and his wife, Michelle, of Garden City, N.Y., and Jared and his partner, Paul, of Berlin, Germany; his brother, Berndt, and his wife, Gabby, of Füssen, Germany; and three grandchildren: Stella, Karsten, and Reese.

Private memorial services will be held in Germany at a later date in 2022.

In lieu of flowers, gifts in his memory can be made to some of Kartsen’s favorite organizations: navysealfoundation.org, npr.org, and worldwildlife.org.